"I have put off buying a splitting maul for a number of years and have persevered with a felling axe.... Why? Why? Why?The weight and shape off the maul make it easy to split big logs, even when still green. The roughneck is well made and hopefully will last a long time, so £30 well spent."

"Heavy - almost too heavy for me - but splits most stubborn logs that other, lighter mauls might struggle with. Yes of course chunks will fly off the log when it splits and if that's a problem for some then just stand the log inside a suitable vehicle tyre. I also have 2 axes and a 2kg maul as swinging the 8lb beast is hard work but some of the logs I need to split are big, heavy and wet and that's when it's used. A 6lb maul would probably suit most people for occasional/weekly use.This maul is cheap compared to many, they range from below £20 up to around £200. I have used my 8lb Roughneck 'hard' for over 2 years now with no problems, defects or weak points."

"I bought the maul and log grenade to hopefully split 1/2 ton of new oak slabs from a recently felled 200 year old tree.I was thinking a chainsaw might be needed but wanted to try hand splitting. The slabs were 2 to 3 feet in diameter and about a 12 to 18 inches thick. I started scoring the slabs with a circular saw and banging away with the grenade. After 40 minutes I stopped using the saw and just converted the stock into nice chunks of great firewood only using the maul straight off, only using the grenade for narly bits where the fibres go left and right. The maul is great to split or to pound the grenade. The maul head nearly never jams (unlike an axe). The chunks just fly off. Don't forget to split the logs on a good base of tree section. Picture shows 1/3 of the slabs. It took an afternoon complete the lot. I can't comment on reliability after a short test. Very satisfying. Good products."

"My wife asked me why I needed to spend money on this when I was going to our local Screwfix to get it: I need the right tool for the job, says I.

And it really is. I had been trying to split some logs using a short handled axe, a wedge and a lump hammer, and getting really frustrated.

This thing goes through logs really easily. Even for the incompetent. like myself (I now have a hole in my plastic storage container from half a log flying off into it from my chopping block) it's a dream to use.

If you have big logs and need them to be smaller, and you want to do it manually, go and buy one."

"Very nice maul,I purchased this for a friend and had nothing but good reports he says that it is a lot lot less stressful to use than a wooden handle tool as there is less shock and vibration transmitted down the handle.It is a heavy tool to use,and I did sharpen the edge considerably.(but most good axes are supplied without a cutting edge) Will update in future as to durability."

"As has been pointed out by others, this is a maul. It's not an axe. As it isn't an axe I imagine it wouldn't be good at doing an axe's job; the 'blade' is intentionally not a blade and trying to change the maul into an axe by sharpening it will stop it from being able to do either job.Straight out of the box it has worked extremely well for its intended purpose. It has only had a few hours use so far so I can't comment on reliability yet, but it's certainly made well as well as functioning well - a pleasure to use."

"Bought this to split logs from chopping down some trees as my smaller wooden handle axe hardly made a dent, even on 2ft x 2ft logs. I needed a real log splitter.This does the job with ease smashing through the 2footers and much bigger. I was happily impressed. For the really big logs or if your strength is less than average you may want to grab the roughneck grenade or other wedge too as the blunt end of the axe head means you can use the roughneck maul to hammer it through a partly split log but in my opinion this product splits large logs on its own, has great grip and weight and usually splits a log with no more than a couple of swings. It comes looking blunt but it splits logs with bruit force so don't worry. We'd all like a £100+ wood handle one but if that's pushing your budget you won't be disappointed with this."

"have used this to split recently seasoned pile of pine logs some of which were very notty and up to 30inch diameter .Nicely balanced and didnt get stuck once also showed no sign of wear with some miss hits.Overall a very nice product to use."

"Was a bit sceptical about this but I didn't want the hassle of a grenade and sledgehammer. Even more sceptical when I saw how 'blunt' it was.

Tried it on some old, wet and knotted rounds and was amazed. My axe just buried itself in these but this thing just blasted them apart. Wish I'd bought one years ago.

I guess it will be defeated where a grenade and sledgehammer will win, but for most jobs it is perfect and a lot faster than lining up a grenade over and over again. It also has the advantage that you can just use the pounding end with a grenade if you need to."

"Smacks timber to shreds with little effort... the edge is surprisingly blunt so dont expect to use it as an axe.If you need to bash logs into manageable sizes it is pure joy.Highly therapeutic after a stressful day ;)"

"top quality item will highly recommend,excellent price plus it doubles as a 8lb sledge hammer......cant go wrong ...buy it.. cant comment on reliability as not had it long enough....only used to split 3 ton logs as yet.."